Toyota Prius.My car for the next couple of days.
 

a few pics.

Nice litle fucker. Slow, but interesting.

I have to write a review about it.

The suspension feels like a renault from the 80's - all squishy and soft. And the steering is a bit numb, bit I'll live.

Don't like it one bit.

Oh, and the editor said, if I could take pics. I said yes and the next thing I knew, I held this camera in my hands. Quite a change comparring this thing to my little minolta.

http://img198.exs.cx/img198/7342/pict03081rw.th.jpg http://img198.exs.cx/img198/4803/pict03093kk.th.jpg http://img198.exs.cx/img198/301/pict03102wr.th.jpg http://img198.exs.cx/img198/4797/pict03119gp.th.jpg


http://img198.exs.cx/img198/5593/pict03143oy.th.jpg http://img198.exs.cx/img198/6039/pict03157iy.th.jpg http://img198.exs.cx/img198/7451/pict03166yv.th.jpg

http://img198.exs.cx/img198/7742/pict03175zr.th.jpg http://img198.exs.cx/img198/3751/pict03183ej.th.jpg http://img198.exs.cx/img198/1209/pict03192vz.th.jpg

I don't think I need to tell you I am more impressed by the 10D than by the Prius ;)

Still, I am sure you will enjoy beeing a bit more envirronmental friendly than usually ;)

Actually I am pretty sure its problem is the price. People still prefer to spend their extra money on alloy wheels, GPS or whatever, rather than in a second engine :roll:

The Prius is an absolute crock. We mucked about with one here in Houston a while back - it can't go, can't turn, can't stop - costs way more than a Corolla but is really not any more practical.

You are correct - if they made a hybrid Corolla, they would not be able to produce them fast enough - and yes the price is quite stupid really.

Alternative propulsion should cost the same as current tech - otherwise it defeats the purpose.

The manufacturer that will have the most success with hybrid sales in the long run, is the one that will subsidize and sell the first cars at a loss, and have them look the same as the gas/diesel cars. This way you get people over to the "other side" simply and easily.

A bit of a change from the Ferrari's, Masers etc that you've been spending time with lately.....but should still be fun :D
I'm not expecting any wild vidoes of this one :P

hahaha sucks for you!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: i take joy from your pain!!! j/k it should be a fine car except the price tag is WAY too high. i dont ever want to buy one.

This car remembers me, Jeremy Clarkson...
He didn't.. as me..
but I would take a ride in a eletric car

very very nice choice .... what hapenned to your old camera :? :mrgreen:

and btw .... when exactly dose the electric motor kicks in ..... as far as i know ... it works on low speeds on the gasoline engine .... when the rpms increases on higher gears the electric motor kicks in ......... and how long is the life of the battery .... dose the decellerative geration really work ?

I believe Honda was on the right track with the Insight. They sold those cars for i believe a $3K loss initially, but it isn't anymore practical than a CRX. But now that the Civic has come as a hybrid, it's sales should do much better (not that they are lagging anyway). However my service advisors daughter has a hybrid civic and she only averages about 32MPG on the highway. A 325 will get around 34-35 :wink:

As far as I know the engine (gasoline) is only used when it is needed, like under hard acceleration. When cruising on the freeway or light acceleration it is barely used and the electric engine does most of the work :wink: Then when braking alot of the energy is used to charge the battery instead of being wasted as heat in 'normal' cars.....I hope thats right anyway :)

thats decelerative or deceleration generation :wink:

well .. im still confused the motors .... when dose the gasoline engine work and when dose the electric motor works ... the reason why they introduced the electric motor is bcuz it it more efficient then a gasoline engine at high revs .... and also bcuz of fuel economy ...... so the electric motor should run when the rpm at the wheels is high .... and thw gasoline motor should work when the rpm at the wheels is low ...... grrrrr :x :| :? ... :cry: ... lol .. i am soo lost ... :D

Reminds of the time I nearly got run over by a Prius- that thing is ghostly silent in the city mode - so I stepped off the curb and whoosh the Prius passs five feet away with nary a sound.

I think the more important idea he was trying to get across was to make it look the same as normal gas or diesel cars. The insight is far from that (ugly as sin). The new Lexus RX440H is more in that vein, plus it is a performance hybrid, which will attract buyers even more. Pricey though

btw saadie, I think you've got it switched with electric motors. They're better at low RPMs, hence the reason they have huge torque but low horsepower. Of course there are ones that are better for high rpm, but not too typically, and if they're designed for high rpm they tend to have really crappy low torque.

Well, you have te posibility to push a button and drive with the electric motor only. You can go up to 47km/h and then the normal engine starts to help. It also starts helping if you push the throtle harder. The battery is empty after about 1km, in case you're only using electrical power. But it recharges quick. Less than 3 min.

And the electrical motor doesn't recharge only when you are breaking. If it's empty it will also recharge during the normal driving style.

If you drive normaly , usually both engines work at the same time. But you can make the electric engine do all the work even at higher speeds(50-60km/h). But you have to be eally concentrated and only push the throtle gently. As soon as you put your foot down just a little, the other engine kicks in.

hmmm ... k ..... i kinda get it now .... fully recharging in less then 3 mins is awsome .... what kind of battries are used ? .... do yea feel a jerks when the engine kicks in ??